Ethique Shampoo Bar: The Range, Conditioner Bars and Alternatives

In 1997 a yachtsman named Charles Moore was sailing home to California from a Hawaii race when he crossed the North Pacific gyre. He found a sea of plastic. It became known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, though NOAA oceanographers had predicted such a thing as early as 1988. Most of us met that story long after, standing in a bathroom full of empty bottles.

Brianne West met it in a kitchen in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2012 she was a second-year science student at the University of Canterbury, making solid shampoo and conditioner bars in her kitchen, and her insight was simple. Bathroom products are usually 60 to 95 percent water, so if you send only the actives, you do not need the bottle. Ethique grew from that, and it is now a certified B Corporation, and the brand says its bars are vegan, cruelty-free, palm oil free and wrapped in compostable packaging. I like that the pitch is an argument, not a mood board.

A bar is only a good idea if it works for your hair, and the first grid is organised by hair type, which is the smart part. The Hydrating bar is for dry hair, Curl-Defining is for waves and curls, and Scalp Health is aimed at the scalp. The Clarifying bar is the reset, Volumising is for fine hair, and Smoothing is for frizz. Repairing is for hair that has been through a lot of heat, and Purple is the toning one for blonde and silver hair. Pick the one that matches your hair, not the one with the nicest scent.

Wet the bar before you use it, and hold it in your palm. Then rub it on your hands, not straight on your head, so you control the lather.

A conditioner bar works like the liquid kind, but you glide it over the ends, not the roots, two or three strokes at a time. The Hydrating conditioner bar matches the shampoo bar of the same name, and Curl-Defining does the same for curls. Smoothing is the one for frizz, Repairing is for damaged lengths, and Purple is the one to use after the purple shampoo bar to keep blonde from going brassy.

The storage tray is the quiet hero of the grid, and I would buy it first. A bar that sits in a puddle is a bar that vanishes fast, and a tray keeps it off the wet ledge so it can dry between uses. The brand's Eucalyptus & Cedarwood and Vanilla & Lavender deodorant sticks carry the same idea over to deodorant, and their names tell you the scent direction.

A pairing I like: the shampoo bar and conditioner bar of the same hair type, with the tray, all bought at once. It turns the idea into a habit, and habits are what make a swap last.

What I would skip: leaving a bar on the edge of the tub in a humid bathroom. Put it somewhere dry.

Run a dry bar over damp hair for a few seconds before you lather it, and notice how much product comes off. That is how you learn how much bar you really need.

Viori's Coconut Advanced Repair & Moisturizing Conditioner Bar and its Rice Water Infused Conditioner Bar are the two conditioner bars here. One is for repair and moisture, and the other takes the rice water route. Kitsch makes three. The Rosemary & Biotin Volumizing Shampoo Bar is for flat hair, the Castor Oil Nourishing Solid Shampoo is for dry lengths, and the Coconut Oil Deep-Moisturizing Conditioner Bar is the matching finish.

Davines' MOMO Hydrating Shampoo Bar is the salon-brand option. Tree to Tub's Rosemary and Rice Water Shampoo Bar is another way to get rice water into the shower. J.R. Liggett's Moisturizing Shampoo Bar is one of the simplest shapes of the whole category.

Bars are not all the same. Some are made with soap, some with gentler cleansers, and the ingredient list tells you which is which. If your hair feels dry or waxy after a week, try another bar before you blame the idea.

What I would skip: switching to a bar the week before a beach trip or a big event. Give your hair a fortnight to adjust.

Dry your hands before you pick up a lotion bar, and warm it against your skin for a moment. A bar is meant to melt a little where you rub.

Kate McLeod's Body Stone is a lotion bar shaped like a smooth stone. The Cocoa Butter one is the deep moisturizing version, and the Palo Santo & Vetiver one is for people who like a woody scent. Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Exfoliating Body Bar Soap, Jack Black's Turbo Body Bar and Glossier's Body Hero Exfoliating Body Bar are the three for the shower, and all three say exfoliating right on the label, so use them gently.

Deodorant is where most of us get stuck. Kopari's Aluminum-Free Coconut Deodorant and Sol de Janeiro's Rio Deo, in Cheirosa '62 and Cheirosa 59, are both aluminum-free. Sol de Janeiro's is refillable, so the case stays and only the core changes.

A bar in the shower and a bar on the body is a satisfying loop. It all comes down to fewer bottles under the sink.

What I would skip: a scrubbing body bar on freshly shaved skin. Wait a day.

I would begin with a single shampoo bar for your hair type and a tray, nothing more. Use it for a month, and only then decide about the conditioner bar and the deodorant. A bar is a small commitment, and the tray makes it a tidy one. The claims about how many bottles a bar replaces are the brand's own, so watch your own bathroom instead of counting.

Charles Moore found a sea of plastic. You only have to find a dry spot for a bar, and that feels like a fair trade. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Kitsch Shampoo, From Handmade Hair Ties to Solid Bars and Shampoo, Conditioner, And Hair Oils.